Lowcountry Summer

Starred review from April 26, 2010
Here’s one for the Southern gals as well as Yankees who appreciate Frank’s signature mix of sass, sex, and gargantuan personalities. In this long-time-coming sequel to Plantation, opinionated and family-centric Caroline Wimbly Levine has just turned 47, but she’s less concerned with advancing middle age than she is with son Eric shacking up with an older single mom. She’s also dealing with a drunk and disorderly sister-in-law, Frances Mae; four nieces from hell; grieving brother Tripp; a pig-farmer boyfriend with a weak heart; and a serious crush on the local sheriff. Then there’s Caroline’s dead-but-not-forgotten mother, Miss Lavinia, whose presence both guides and troubles Caroline as she tries to keep her unruly family intact and out of jail. With a sizable cast of minor characters with major attitude, Frank lovingly mixes a brew of personalities who deliver nonstop clashes, mysteries, meltdowns, and commentaries; below the always funny theatrics, however, is a compelling saga of loss and acceptance. When Frank nails it, she really nails it, and she does so here.

Narrator Robin Miles adds rich intensity to this modern-day day story of a Southern belle approaching middle age. Caroline Wimbley Levine is shocked by the irresponsibility of her alcoholic sister-in-law and steps in to assist her brother with his four spoiled daughters. Miles depicts Caroline's good intentions amid her family meddling and adds indulgence to the silly complications of Caroline's multiple love affairs. Miles voices Caroline's elderly African-American housekeeper as the center of dignity and wit in the household, infusing the comment "mmm-hmph" with a myriad of messages. When the family faces unexpected tragedy, they learn that forgiveness can overcome even the largest egos. N.M.C. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

May 15, 2010
More folksy love, marriage and magic in Frank's (Return to Sullivan's Island, 2010, etc.) winning book.

Caroline Wimbley Levine is at loose ends. The daughter of Wimbley matriarch, Miss Lavinia, she has returned to Tall Pines Plantation to take charge of the family home and, apparently, the lives of her relatives. The lowcountry of South Carolina may have limited romantic possibilities—neither of Caroline's major beaus (a barbecue chef and a local cop) tempt her to remarry—but its limited social circle is full of complications. The major one is her brother Trip's troubled separation from the falling-down drunk Frances Mae, a woman both Caroline and her mother had disapproved of from the start not because"she was a low class red neck slut from nowhere" but because"she was greedy, jealous, small-minded, petty and mean-spirited." The main conflict begins when Frances Mae crashes her car with her young daughter as a passenger, forcing Caroline—and an unwilling Trip—to take action. But as Caroline tries to channel Miss Lavinia's voice, she tends to hear only the old prejudices. While Frances Mae, a woman whose unrefined accent is made clear through her slurred protestations of"I love yew" when the extended family enacts an intervention, is hardly sympathetic, Caroline has a few lessons to learn about tolerance and commitment, too. Joined and amply supported by Frank's usual colorful lowcountry crew—particularly the ancient Miss Sweetie and the magical Millie Smoak—Caroline makes it through this particularly bumpy summer a little wiser and a lot happier. Although a particularly providential accident is necessary to bring about the usual happy ending, this chatty first-person tale of friendship, love and toothsome Southern food shares the appeal of its predecessors.

Family complications and Southern charm bolster a proven formula.

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May 1, 2010
Firmly ensconced back in the family home in South Carolinas Lowcountry, Caroline Wimbley Levine s life would be perfect were it not for the drunken escapades of her hopefully soon-to-be-ex-sister-in-law, Frances Mae. In love with another woman and exasperated by his wifes drinking, Carolines brother, Trip, has repeatedly asked Frances Mae for a divorce, which only fuels her alcohol-induced antics. When an under-the-influence accident endangers the life of their youngest child, Frances Mae is sent off to rehab rather than face jail time. Her absence gives Caroline and Trips girlfriend, Rusty, the opportunity to turn Trips pack of she-wolf daughters into young ladiesa Herculean task, considering the girls think Rusty a potential stepmother worthy of the Brothers Grimm. Unfortunately, it will take a tragedy to fully bring the lessons of grace, honor, and tradition home to this next generation of Wimbley women. Reprising the characters introduced in Plantation (2001), Frank creates a richly atmospheric tale of a loving, if dysfunctional, southern family.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)